The Fight Scene: Tripleheader set for AT&T Center

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April 27, 2013
: Updated: April 27, 2013 11:59pm

Former welterweight champion Andre Berto is scheduled to take on Jesus Soto Karass in the 12-round main event of a Showtime-televised tripleheader July 27 at the AT&T Center.

Photo By Associated Press

Art Hurtado, Pasadena Fire captain and paramedic takes questions during a news conference in Pasadena, Calif., Thursday, April 11, 2013. At right, Calvin Wells Pasadena Fire Chief. Hurtado helped save the life of a man at Home Depot after the victim apparently tried to cut his arms off using handsaws found at the home improvement store in West Covina, Calif. With help from police and store employees, Hurtado who was off-duty collected rope and rags from store shelves and put makeshift tourniquets on both arms, most likely saving the man's life, police said. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

“Jesse” James Leija and Mike Battah still were trying to catch their breath from the weekend when the offer arrived.

The pair had just put the finishing touches on Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Austin Trout, the biggest and most successful fight in San Antonio in 20 years and were hoping to build on the momentum.

They didn't have to wait long for the chance.

Little more than 24 hours later, Leija and Battah completed an agreement with Los Angeles-based Golden Boy Promotions to bring a Showtime-televised tripleheader to the AT&T Center on July 27, headlined by former two-time welterweight champion Andre Berto.

San Antonio has long been regarded as a great boxing market.

Now, apparently, it's a hot market, too.

“We're wasting no time getting back after it,” said Battah, president of Leija/Battah Promotions. “We want to focus on this really hard and sell it out.”

That might be a tall order, but judging by the success of last weekend's event, anything is possible.

Berto (28-2, 22 KOs) is scheduled to take on Jesus Soto Karass (27-8-3, 17 KOs) in the 12-round main event.

While this is clearly not Alvarez-Trout, it qualifies as a worthy encore to the recent megafight that drew a crowd of 39,247 to the Alamodome.

Berto was one of the hottest names in boxing and was in line to meet pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. until he lost to Victor Ortiz two years ago.

He'll be trying to rebound from getting dropped twice and losing a decision to Robert Guerrero in November.

Karass is a rugged Mexican brawler who always makes for high-action fights.

Rising star Omar Figueroa Jr. (21-0-1, 17 KOs) of Weslaco will face off against an opponent to be named.

“We're going to price the tickets right, and I think we're going to call the card 'Bang for your Buck' because with Berto, Thurman and Figueroa, you have big bangers,” Richard Schaefer, chief executive of Golden Boy, told ESPN.com.

“We're really looking forward to bringing another big card to San Antonio. It's a great fight city.”

The AT&T Center will seat 18,000 for the event, Battah said. Tickets will go on sale Saturday.

Alvarez return when, not if: The victory by Alvarez over Trout answered a lot of questions about the red-haired Mexican star but left one big one unanswered.

Will we see him back in the Alamo City anytime soon?

Golden Boy has said Alvarez will return. The only question appears to be when, not if.

The unified light middleweight champ is scheduled to attend the Mayweather-Guerrero showdown Saturday in Las Vegas. Alvarez has said he wants Mayweather next should he beat Guerrero, and “Pretty Boy” Floyd certainly will be heavily favored to do so.

Mayweather has said he wants to fight again Sept. 14. If it's against Alvarez, that fight likely will land in Las Vegas.

But given the way Mayweather has ducked fighting Manny Pacquiao for years, it's hard to imagine the bout happening soon, if at all.

There has been some talk about Alvarez returning here in December to fight Miguel Cotto, but nothing will be determined until after Mayweather-Guerrero.